Tuesday, December 22, 2009

WTF Tazo Teas?

Cale stopped in at the local Starbucks to pick up another box of Tazo Chai for me. I love the stuff and now that I can easily warm milk (microwaves! brilliant) it means it is even tastier than when I was doing it with only hot water. Anyway, the girl behind the counter tells Cale that Starbucks has phased out the tea bags and will only be selling the loose leaf tea now (presumably to force you to buy the apparatus to steep said tea). This has me worried, as Starbucks owns Tazo, does this mean they are phasing out the bagged tea entirely or only for sale at the Starbucks? Can I still get bagged Tazo teas at other retailers? I haven't checked around and I cannot find any mention of this online or on the unnecessarily complex Tazo web site (anyone whose site opens entirely in a pop-up window has taken the Flash and dash a little too far).

It won't be too difficult for me to find a new chai to buy. I have had some other tasty varieties in the past. I always went with Tazo because it was relatively inexpensive, delicious and ubiquitous. However, if Tazo does switch to only loose teas you can be sure that my brand loyalty will wane. Bagged teas are significantly more convenient then loose, especially when you are traveling, as I intend to be rather soon.